Amanda DeSalme-art of Conducting

"The art of conducting, one of the most complex and demanding activities in teh realm of music, comprises both the visual public performance and the constant application of technique." (Green, xi).

The art of conducting is quite an interesting one. There is the beautiful part that we witness during performances, the motions of the conductor which can be graceful, rhythmic, intense, solem...really they can be anything. There are many aspects of music that the conductor can try to convey with his or her body motions. It is almost like a dance up there on the podium, to have the musicians follow your musical interpretations through your body movements. Another huge part of the art of conducting is the technical aspect-rehearsal!! Preparing for the performance can be a long, tedious process, and the conductor must study the score and know it well enough to anticipate trouble spots to fix but still be flexible enough to fit the group if his/her original idea did not work. Conductors must have all sorts of tricks up their sleeves to really pull the fullest potential out of the ensemble. In Elizabeth Green's textbook "The Modern Conductor," there is a "Credo" which beautifully describes the often overlooked art of conducting.

"Music lives only when the notes fly off the page and soar into glorious sound.

The performer, the conductor, releases them from bondage through his or her feeling for their message, through the power of the imagination, and by means of the physical technique one devotedly acquires.

We build the technique only to ensure that our music can achieve its unforgettable moments, evanescent as they are, before once more returning to its prison of impatient silence.

The most profoundly inspiring performances of a lifetime were those where the performer's technique was so superb that we forgot it existed. Music spoke its own language in its own way, uninfluenced by human frailty." (Green, xvii).

I took a choral conducting class last year as a junior, and fell in love with the abstract beauty of using the space around your body to convey musical messages to people. I am now the music director of CNU's vocal jazz ensemble and am learning all kinds of rehearsal techniques to make the group sound good. I'm still learning a lot and it is incredibly difficult-I have to be fully prepared to catch mistakes on every voice part-but I am loving it like crazy! It is probably one of the most rewarding artforms I have engaged in, even if I didn't "conduct" per say during our performance...it's not really necessary in jazz.. but all the work leading up to the performance, preparing the group, was definitely an art. I cannot wait to continue learning about this artform and hopefully making more successful/beautiful/touching performances in the future.